Tag: Launch Services Program

NASA, DOD Seek Universities to Develop CubeSats for Launch 

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A set of NanoRacks CubeSats is photographed by an Expedition 38 crew member after the deployment by the Small Satellite Orbital Deployer (SSOD). The CubeSats program contains a variety of experiments such as Earth observations and advanced electronics testing. NASA NASA is collaborating with the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force to offer a set of hands-on learning engagements that will help higher education institutions, faculty, and students learn more about what it takes to build small satellites and be selected for flight opportunities.  Teams selected for the University…

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Kennedy Space Center Looks Ahead to a Busy Year in 2024

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The mobile launcher, carried by the crawler-transporter 2, rolls out from its park site location to Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in August 2023 for testing ahead of the agency’s Artemis II mission. NASA/Ben Smegelsky Another jam-packed year is in store for NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida as the momentum of a busy 2023 is carried forward into the new year. On the horizon are missions to the Moon, more crew and cargo flights to the International Space Station, and several upgrade projects across…

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NASA Provides Update on Venture-Class Launch Services

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NASA currently is working with several commercial companies as part of the agency’s VADR (Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare) launch services contract, providing new opportunities for science, and technology payloads. These include: ABL Space Systems of El Segundo, California Astra Space Inc. of Alameda, California Blue Origin Florida, LLC of Merritt Island, Florida Firefly Space Transport Services of Cedar Park, Texas L2 Solutions DBA SEOPS, LLC of Houston, Texas Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation of Chandler, Arizona Phantom Space Corporation of Tucson, Arizona Relativity Space Inc. of Long Beach, California Rocket…

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NASA Invites Public to Share in Excitement of Psyche Mission

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Psyche mission team members prepare the spacecraft at a facility near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in late July, just after the solar arrays were folded and stowed. NASA/Kim Shiflett NASA is inviting the public to take part in virtual activities ahead of the launch of NASA’s Psyche spacecraft. The Psyche spacecraft will travel about 2.2 billion miles to study a metal-rich asteroid of the same name. The asteroid, which lies in the outer portion of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, may be part of a…

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